New Delhi: Poorvanchalis, fighting for Bhojpuri to be accorded the status of official language have got a supporter, who seemed to be “confident” that the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi “will play a stellar role in securing a place of pride for the Bhojpuri language.”
Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, the high commissioner of Mauritius in India Jagdishwar Goburdhan expressed confidence that “Indian Prime Minister will fulfil the long pending demand of the people of Poorvanchal who have been seeking due respect for their mother tongue.” Expressing confidence that walking on the principles of “Vasudevaye Kutumbakam”, Mr Modi will bring the world together bridging the existing gap in humanity. As per statistics, more than 50 percent of population of Mauritius is of Indian origin, a large number of them from Bihar, with Bhojpuri as their mother tongue.
Mr Goburdhan said that being a Lok Sabha member from Varanasi, the land of Lord Shiva, Poorvanchal is banking on Prime Minister Modi.
He said that by according the national language status to Bhojpuri, the Prime Minister will fulfil the long pending demand of the people of Poorvanchal who have been seeking due respect for their mother tongue.
The high commissioner, who has kept an idol of Bhojpuri Devi, which he gifts also to his guests, in his room, said that India and Mauritius are not two nations but brothers separated by ocean and united by Bhojpuri.
“The prosperity of a nation depends on the preservation of its culture and due importance to its mother tongue,” he said. “Bhojpuri is the mother of Hindi. It is almost 5000 years old and this is the time that those who are the helm of the affairs in India should give its dues.” Apart from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Bhojpuri is also spoken by people who were taken as indentured labourers in the 19th century and early 20th century, from India for work in sugarcane plantations during British colonial era, to Mauritius, Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, the Caribbean, Jamaica, and South Africa.
Talking about the efforts made by the Mauritius government in promoting Bhojpuri, the envoy said the language is taught in schools at the primary level and steps are being taken to introduce it in higher education.
Fearing the possibility of extinction of Bhojpuri language in the French speaking Mauritius, an institution known as Geet Gawai School (song singing school) dominated by people migrated from Bhojpuri speaking areas in Bihar has been set up. The basic motive of this organisation is to promote the rich cultural heritage of Bhojpuri-speaking areas among the younger generation, especially women.
It may be recalled that UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) also suggested taking up world-wide movement for awareness of importance of untouched cultural heritage as they provide the people with a sense of identity and links the past with the present.
This school in Mauritius is imparting training on theoretical and practical aspects of different songs like sandhya (evening song), devi devta (devotional songs), Mahadev (Lord Shiva), shaadi ke geet (marriage songs), suhag, imli ghotai, matkor, parichhawan etc. Sometimes they also invite popular Bhojpuri singers for presenting some of the cultural songs popular in Bihar like Bidesiya written by late Bhikhari Thakur and songs penned by the late Mahendra Mishra.
“I personally visited the native place of late Bhikhari Thakur in Bihar. He was an iconic personality and his legacy must get promoted across the globe, especially in countries where Bhojpuri speaking people are living,” said the high commissioner. According to census of India (2001), there are more than four crore or 40 million native speakers of Bhojpuri in India alone.
An estimated 70 million people in Uttar Pradesh and 80 million people in Bihar speak Bhojpuri as their first or second language.
